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EU Cybercrime Centre to fight online fraud
28/03/2012
"We can't let cybercriminals disrupt our digital lives. A European Cybercrime Centre within Europol will become a hub for cooperation in defending an internet that is free, open and safe," said Cecilia Malmström, European Commissioner for Home Affairs.
The centre will be the European focal point in fighting cybercrime and will focus on illegal online activities carried out by organised crime groups, particularly those generating large criminal profits, such as online fraud involving credit cards and bank credentials. The EU experts will also work on preventing cybercrimes affecting e-banking and online booking activities, thus increasing e-consumers trust. A focus of the European Cybercrime Centre will be to protect social network profiles from e-crime infiltration and will help the fight against online identity theft. It will also focus on cybercrimes which cause serious harm to their victims, such as online child sexual exploitation and cyber-attacks affecting critical infrastructure and information systems in the Union.
Watch Wednesday's press conference in full, and read the press release as well as more questions and answers about the centre.
Independent TFTP overseer appointed
27/08/2010
This summer, the EU and the United States signed an agreement on tracking of terrorism financing, the so called TFTP agreement (Terrorist Finance Tracking Programme). The text stated that the European Commission would appoint an independent European person with the mission of monitoring the data searches that are being carried out within the agreement framework. An interim overseer has now been appointed.
“I am very pleased to announce that the European Commission has now appointed an interim independent overseer of Terrorist Finance Tracking Programme searches. This person is responsible on an interim basis for the oversight and monitoring of financial payment messaging, which is necessary for the purpose of prevention, investigation, detection, or prosecution of terrorism or terrorist financing,” said Cecilia Malmström, European Commissioner in charge of Home Affairs.
The overseer is placed in Washington, and has started working. The interim solution will shortly be replaced by a person holding a permanent post, in accordance with Article 12 of the agreement.
Read the statement in full and read more on the TFTP agreement.
One step closer towards visa-free travel to Brazil
06/08/2010
The European Commission adopted today draft decisions on short-stay visa waiver agreements between the EU and Brazil. Thereby, all European citizens would be able to travel to Brazil visa-free.
"Once these agreements enter into force, they will have real positive impact on the everyday life of our citizens, especially of the citizens of Estonia, Latvia, Malta and Cyprus which for the time being still need a visa to travel to Brazil", said EU Commissioner for Home Affairs Cecilia Malmström.
The draft decisions have to be approved by the Council before they can enter into force. Read more in the press release.
Malmström concerned about new fee for travels to the US
06/08/2010
"I understand that today's decision is taken in accordance with the Travel Promotion Act's obligations. Nevertheless, I regret very much the fee established by the interim rule. I have repeatedly raised concerns about the introduction of this fee and I remain convinced that these new requirements applicable only to travelers under the Visa Waiver Program, are inconsistent with the commitment of the U.S. to facilitate transatlantic mobility and will be an additional onus for European citizens travelling to the U.S.", said Cecilia Malmström, EU Commissioner for Home Affairs.
Mrs Malmström made the statement following an announcement from the U.S. Homeland Security Customs and Border Protection who today published the interim rule on an administrative fee of 14 US dollars for travelers to the United States. The new fee will become effective on 8 September 2010.
Read Cecilia Malmström's statement in full.
EURODAC annual report issued
03/08/2010
The 2009 annual report on the activities of EU wide database EURODAC was published today by the European Commission. Among other things, the report shows that the number of registered asylum applications rose by eight percent in 2009 compared to the year before.
EURODAC is a European database for storage of so called biometric data. The purpose is to facilitate the implementation of the Dublin regulation, which is the regulatory framework that decides the Member State responsible for examining an asylum application.
"EURODAC is an essential part of the EU's Common European Asylum System. The report published today shows the effective contribution of this EU-wide fingerprint database in managing asylum applications, by helping to establish which Member State should examine each of them through the storage and comparison of the fingerprints of asylum seekers and illegal entrants and preventing the submission of multiple asylum requests", " stated Cecilia Malmström, EU Commissioner responsible for Home Affairs.
Read more in the press release or read the report in full.
EU review of information sharing systems
20/07/2010
The European Commission has carried out a stocktaking of existing EU instruments used for storage and exchange of personal data. The overview was put forward today by Commissioner Cecilia Malmström during a press conference in Brussels.
"EU citizens have the right to know what personal data are kept about them. This provides a good overview of the different instruments we have in Europe. At the same time, it is an opportunity to establish a set of principles for how our policy should develop in this area", said Cecilia Malmström.
To present this overview was one of the first decisions Cecilia Malmström made as newly appointed EU Commissioner for Home Affairs earlier this spring. This has also been called for by the European Parliament. The overview covers several areas, such as the data needed within the Schengen cooperation, visa issues, the EU asylum and migration policy and the fight against organised crime and terrorism.
"I will now review each one of these instruments, by their own as well as in relation to the bigger picture, and evaluate them against the principles we have set out. Among other things, I want to ensure that all of these instruments are proportionate, that they respect the fundamental rights, and I also want to investigate the possibilities to introduce so called sunset clauses, which means that legislation automatically ends after a certain number of years", said Cecilia Malmström.
Today, Cecilia Malmström also presented a stocktaking of the EU's work to fight terrorism in order to outline the instruments already in place, what has been achieved, and in which areas further action is needed.
Read more on the two reviews via the links below.
- Commission presents an overview of EU information sharing systems and sets core principles for their use and evaluation
- EU Counter-Terrorism policy: Commission outlines main achievements and future challenges
- Communication: Overview of information management in the area of freedom, security and justice
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- Communication: The EU Counter-Terrorism Policy, main achievements and future challenges
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- Annex: Taking stock of EU Counter-Terrorism Measures
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"Important to move forward in asylum discussions"
15/07/2010
Migration and Interior Ministers from EU Member States gather in Brussels today for an informal council meeting. EU Commissioner Cecilia Malmström took part in the discussions this morning on a future asylum system for the EU.
The Belgian EU Presidency, having asylum and migration as one of its priorities, arranges its first informal Justice and Home Affairs council meeting in Brussels today and tomorrow. Today, the Ministers for Migration and the Interior meet, and tomorrow is the meeting of the EU's Ministers for Justice. Thursday morning was spent discussing the future EU asylum system.
"How to design the common asylum system is complicated, and there are large differences in opinion between Member States on how it should be structured. We had the opportunity today to touch base and identify the difficulties we face as well as the areas where we agree and can move forward. It is important that we continue to work towards establishing a common asylum system by 2012, as previously agreed by Member States ", said Cecilia Malmström.
The future common EU asylum system will be one of the key priorities for Cecilia Malmström this fall.
Crime prevention in the EU was the topic for discussion during the afternoon. Read more on the informal council meeting on the website of the Belgian EU Presidency.
Malmström proposes EU coordination of labour migration
13/07/2010
"We need immigrant workers in order to secure our economic survival", stated EU Commissioner for Home Affairs Cecilia Malmström today as the Commission adopted proposals for two directives on labour migration to the EU.
The proposals seek to establish a common framework for conditions of entry and stay for two types of workers: seasonal workers and so called intra-corporate transferees.
Seasonal workers are workers from non-EU countries coming to EU Member States to work for a shorter period of time in season-driven sectors such as agriculture, horticulture and tourism. With today's regulations, this type of temporary workforce is often subject to exploitation and to conditions that put their health and safety in danger.
"People are taken to Europe under sometimes horrible conditions to work for very little pay. We witnessed the tragic riots in Rosarno earlier this year, and we need to protect these people and prevent these things from happening again. Therefore I am now introducing a special procedure for entry and residence for seasonal workers, as well as clarifying what rights they should have while staying in Europe", said Cecilia Malmström.
A quite different type of non-EU workers is called intra-corporate transferees. They are key personnel in multinational companies who get transferred on a temporary basis to a branch or subsidiary of their own company in an EU Member State. Up until now, businesses have been facing an array of 27 sets of rules and regulations and often lengthy procedures to manage this type of transfers. With today's proposal, companies would get access to the right people with the right skills at the right time, while the intra-corporate transferees themselves would get more attractive residence conditions, more flexible rules for bringing their families to Europe, a clear legal status and they would more easily be able to move in between Member States if that is required for carrying out their work.
"As acknowledged in the EU 2020 Strategy, migration can play an important role in filling labour shortages, fuelling economic growth and helping Europe to maintain our economic and social welfare and strengthen our competitiveness. In light of the demographic challenge the EU is facing, where our active population is forecasted to start falling already in 2013, we need immigrant workers in order to secure our economic survival. I will continue to take more steps towards a more inclusive labour migration policy for the EU in the coming years", said Cecilia Malmström.
Read more on the two proposals below and watch a video on the proposal for the Seasonal Workers Directive.
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Parliament in favour of agreement on fight against terrorism
08/07/2010
"I am very happy about the large consensus that has become established between the main political groups of the European Parliament in favour of the Terrorist Finance Tracking Programme agreement negotiated between the European Commission and the United States", said Home Affairs Commissioner Cecilia Malmström in Strasbourg today, where the European Parliament voted in favour of the so called TFTP agreement.
The TFTP agreement has been high on Cecilia Malmström's agenda ever since she took office on 10 February. That was the same day as the Parliament voted no to a previous version of the text, arguing that it did not sufficiently protect the privacy of EU citizens.
"That very same day I made a clear commitment to the European Parliament and to the EU citizens to find a solution to this difficult situation. I kept the commitment and I delivered on it. Today's vote shows the progress made thanks to the efforts of all the people involved in the negotiations both on the EU and the US side", said Cecilia Malmström.
The European Parliament voted by 484 in favour and 109 against, while 12 refrained from voting. The agreement will enter into force on 1 August 2010.
Read more in Cecilia Malmström's statement and see the press conference. See also the TFTP agreement in full as well as an overview of what have changed in the newly adopted agreement compared to the one that was rejected by the Parliament in February.
Zuletzt aktualisiert: 30/8/2010